‘Slenderman’ Stabbing Suspect’s Trial Pushed Back

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CN) – The jury trial for one of two Wisconsin girls accused of trying to stab her classmate to death to gratify a fictional boogeyman three years ago has been pushed back to allow the other girl’s trial to finish.

Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser were detained in 2014 hours after trying to murder Payton Leutner in a forest near Geyser’s home after they just had a sleepover.

Weier and Geyser believed that if they killed Leutner, they could live with a fictional horror character named Slenderman in his mansion, which they believed to be in Nicolet National Park. The three girls were only 12-years-old at the time but are being charged as adults with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

Leutner crawled out of the forest with 19 stab wounds and was discovered by a bicyclist passing by. When picked up by police hours later, Weier and Geyser said they planned the murder attempt for months and were actually on their way to Slenderman’s home.

Weier confessed to the attempted murder in a police videotape shown last December during an evidence hearing. Weier’s defense attorneys tried to get it thrown out stating that she did not understand her Miranda Rights. Weier’s father also took the stand in an attempt to convey Weier as a naive, trusting girl who is willing to please police.

Geyser is being painted as the ringleader of the crime by Weier’s defense attorneys, who say she enforced the delusion which led to the crime. Both girls claim the other made the deal with Slenderman to kill Leutner, whom they say he chose as the victim.

Weier’s jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 11 of this year and Geyser’s had originally been slated for Oct. 2.

However, at a status hearing on Thursday, Geyser’s trial was pushed back to Oct. 16 to allow more time between the trials.

The delay will ensure that Weier’s trial is over by the time Geyser’s starts.